Past President

Sylvia Xiaohua Chen

Professor,
Department of Applied Social Sciences

Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Email: ssxhchen@polyu.edu.hk

Education

Ph.D., Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Background

Sylvia Xiaohua Chen is a Professor at the Department of Applied Social Sciences, an Associate Dean in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, and Director of the Yan Oi Tong Au Suet Ming Child Development Centre at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (previously American Psychological Society) and the Hong Kong Psychological Society. She is the incoming Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, which is the flagship journal of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP). She served as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology and Asian Journal of Social Psychology for four years, respectively.

Sylvia’s research interests center around the social psychology of bilingualism and biculturalism, globalization and multiculturalism, personality and social behavior in cultural contexts, as well as cultural diversity and mental health. She was a recipient of the Early Career Award conferred by the IACCP, the Michael Harris Bond Award for Early Career Research Contributions and the Jung-heun Park Young Scholar Award conferred by the AASP, and the Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme awarded by the Research Grants Council. She has also received several academic awards from the American Psychological Association Division 52 (International Psychology).

Research Interests

  • The social psychology of bilingualism and biculturalism
  • Globalization and multiculturalism
  • Personality and social behavior in cultural contexts
  • Cultural diversity and mental health

Selected Publications

Chen, S. X., Ng, J. C. K., Hui, B. P. H., Au, A. K. Y., Wu, W. C. H., Lam, B. C. P., Mak, W. W. S., & Liu, J. H. (2021). Dual impacts of coronavirus anxiety on mental health in 35 societies. Scientific Reports, 11: 8925 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87771-1

Chen, S. X., Mak, W. W. S., & Lam, B. C. P. (2020). Is it cultural context or cultural value? Unpackaging cultural influences on stigma toward mental illness and barrier to help-seeking. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 11, 1022-1031.

Chen, S. X., Lam, B. C. P., Hui, B. P. H., Ng, J. C. K., Mak, W. W. S., Guan, Y., Buchtel, E. E., Tang, W., & Lau, V. C. Y.  (2016). Conceptualizing psychological processes in response to globalization: Components, antecedents, and consequences of global orientation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 11, 302-331.

Chen, S. X., Lam, B. C. P., Wu, W. C. H., Ng, J. C. K., Buchtel, E. E., Guan, Y., & Deng, H. (2016). Do people’s worldviews matter? The why and how. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 110, 743-765.

Chen, S. X., & Bond, M. H. (2010). Two languages, two personalities? Examining language effects on the expression of personality in a bilingual context. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 1514-1528.

Oyserman, D., Sorensen, N., Reber, R., & Chen, S. X. (2009). Connecting and separating mindsets: Culture as situated cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 217-235.

Chen, S. X., Benet-Martínez, V., & Bond, M. H. (2008). Bicultural identity, bilingualism, and psychological adjustment in multicultural societies: Immigration-based and globalization-based acculturation. Journal of Personality, 76, 803-838.